US begins mass expulsion of Haitian immigrants from Texas

Migrants, many of them Haitians, cross the Rio Grande from del Rio, Texas, to return to Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, on Monday, September 20, 2021, to avoid deportation from the United States. The United States is moving Haitians to camps on the Texas border. Bring the city back home and prevent others from crossing the border from Mexico. (AP Photo/Félix Márquez)

Del Rio, Texas – More than 6,000 Haitians and other immigrants have been turned away from a camp in a Texas border town, US officials said Monday, calling for a strong response that immediately includes deporting the immigrants to their impoverished Caribbean country and using horse patrols. to stop. They do not enter the city.

its name “a difficult and heartbreaking situation”, The Minister of National Security, Alejandro Mallorcas, issued a stark warning: If you came to the US illegally, they will send you back. Your journey will not be successful and will put your life and the life of your family at risk.”

Mallorca and Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said they would watch agents on horseback using what appeared to be whips and their horses to defend themselves against migrants on the river between Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, and del Rio, Texas, where thousands of migrants are still camped. About. bridge.

The two officials said they did not appear to see anything wrong, based on widely viewed photos and videos. Mallorca said herders use long handles, not whips, to control their horses. Ortiz, a former del Rio sector chief, said it can be confusing to distinguish between migrants and smugglers when people move back and forth near a river. The president said he would investigate to make sure she wasn’t there “unacceptable” Agents’ actions.

Mayorcas said 600 Homeland Security personnel, including members of the Coast Guard, have been relocated to del Rio, a city of about 35,000 people located 145 miles (230 kilometers) west of San Antonio. He said he has asked the Defense Department for help in what could be one of the fastest large-scale deportations of immigrants and refugees from the United States in decades.

He also said the United States would increase the frequency and capacity of flights to Haiti and other countries in the hemisphere. The number of immigrants on the bridge peaked at 14,872 on Saturday, Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Board, a union representing agents.

“We are achieving our goals. We are reaching and reaching a point where we can manage the population here,” Ortiz, who blamed the increase on smugglers who spread misinformation, said. “We are already seeing a rapid decline (in population) and we will continue to see it in the coming days,” he added.

Mexico also said it would deport Haitian migrants and began removing them from Ciudad Acuña on Sunday night, according to Luis Angel Orraza, president of the local chamber of commerce. He said he saw the first two buses leaving in front of his restaurant with about 90 people on board.

They no longer have a place in the city. We can no longer help them.” He said.

Mexico’s immigration agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But a federal official told The Associated Press on Sunday that the plan is to move the migrants to Monterrey, in northern Mexico, and Tapachula in the south, with flights to Haiti from those two cities in the coming days.

Express expulsions are made possible by a pandemic-related authority adopted by former President Donald Trump in March 2020 that allows immigrants to be immediately expelled from the country without the opportunity to apply for asylum. President Joe Biden exempted the unaccompanied children from the order, but let the rest remain standing.

Any Haitian who has not been expelled is subject to immigration laws, which include the right to seek asylum and other forms of humanitarian protection. Families are released quickly in the United States because the government generally cannot detain children.

More than 320 migrants arrived in Port-au-Prince on three flights on Sunday, and Haiti said six flights were expected to start on Tuesday. The United States plans to start seven daily flights on Wednesday, four to Port-au-Prince and three to Cap-Haitien, according to a US official who is not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The official said flights will continue to take off from San Antonio, but authorities may add El Paso.

said Yael Schacher, a senior advocate for Refugees International in the US, whose studies have focused on the history of US asylum law.

Likewise, large numbers of Mexicans were sent home during the years of peak immigration, but by land rather than suddenly.

Central America has also crossed the border in similar numbers without experiencing mass expulsion, although Mexico has agreed to accept them from the US under a pandemic authority in place since March 2020. Mexico does not accept the expulsion of Haitians or people from other countries. Nationalities outside the country. Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

In Mexico, local authorities in border municipalities have requested assistance from state and federal authorities. Claudio Brice, mayor of Piedras Negras, about 62 miles (100 km) southeast of Ciudad Acuña, told local media that the official agreement is to send back all buses carrying migrants to prevent them from reaching the border. He said about 70 buses passed through his city last weekend.

Haitians immigrated to the United States in large numbers from South America for several years, and many left their Caribbean nation after the devastating 2010 earthquake. With jobs exhausted due to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, many made the dangerous journey by foot, bus and car to the border The United States, including across the infamous Darren Gap Forest, a Panamanian jungle.

Some immigrants in Camp del Rio said the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti and the assassination of President Jovenel Moise made them fear returning to a country that appears to be even more turbulent than when they left.

“There is no security in Haiti”, said Fabricio Jean, a 38-year-old Haitian who came to Texas with his wife and two daughters. The country is in a political crisis.

Six flights were due to arrive in Haiti on Tuesday: three in Port-au-Prince and three in the northern city of Cap-Haitien, Jean-Nigot-Bonour Delva, Haiti’s director of immigration, said.

Some migrants said they intended to leave Haiti again as soon as possible. Valeria Ternción, 29, said she and her husband wanted to travel with their 4-year-old son to Chile, where she worked as a cashier at a bakery.

“I am very worried, especially about the baby.” She said. “I can’t do anything here.”